TPACK scholarship examines how to develop, apply, and assess this knowledge in diverse education settings and content areas. During the last decade, multiple ways to understand and support its development have emerged, generating approximately 1,000 publications that utilize the construct, impacting the practice of postsecondary faculty, administrators, and others invested in meaningful educational uses of technology.

Perhaps inevitably, TPACK’s enthusiastic reception and rapid dissemination have generated multiple points of divergence which need further study, such as:

The specific nature of the knowledge that TPACK describes

How to understand and describe contextual influences upon instructors’ TPACK

How to measure this knowledge appropriately

How to structure TPACK development in accordance with different adult learners’ needs

Given the widespread diffusion of TPACK, research focusing upon these and related issues will help to determine the direction of future postsecondary learning and teaching with technologies. Therefore, this special issue of AJET will address future directions in TPCK/TPACK research and development. Please note that since AJET’s focus and scope address post-secondary education, submitted manuscripts should speak to TPCK/TPACK in higher education, professional learning/development for teachers and university faculty, and/or educators’ workplace learning.

Mobile device ownership is ubiquitous, leading to many higher and further education institutions exploring a BYOD approach to mobile learning. However, most mobile learning projects are device centric and focus upon repurposing content for delivery to small screens and substitution of pre-existing pedagogical strategies. The potential of mobile learning is to enable new collaborative networked pedagogies and professional practice through enabling authentic learning beyond the classroom. This special issue invites papers that explore the boundaries of current knowledge and approaches to mobile learning, and specifically explore the unique affordances of mobile devices for learner-generated content and experiences via such technologies as collaborative media production and sharing, Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality, geolocative and contextual sensors, drones and wearable technologies.

The conceptual theme in this special issue focuses on the continuum between Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, which are currently two of the hottest topics in emerging learning technologies. Coupled with the ubiquity of mobile device ownership, mobile AR and VR provide the potential to enhance educational technology research and practice on a level previously impractical. By focusing upon learner-generated contexts and learner-generated content the special issue will explore the application of mobile AR and VR enabling new emancipative pedagogies beyond adding another technology fad for content delivery and teacher-directed pedagogies. Of particular interest for this special issue is investigations in areas such as, but not restricted to:

Reviews of the state of the art of mobile augmented reality (AR) and mobile virtual reality (VR) in higher and further education

Reviews of the key themes in recent mobile learning research in higher and further education

Heutagogy and mobile AR and VR in higher and further education

Case studies in mobile AR and VR in higher and further education

Frameworks for mobile AR and VR in higher and further education

The methodological theme for this special issue focuses on research approaches that move beyond simple comparative case studies, and explore the application of Design-Based Research as a methodology for designing authentic mobile learning. As such, a feature of this special issue will be to introduce the readership of AJET to the educational applications of mobile learning that they perhaps were unaware of or have not previously used. Topics of interest may include:

Mobile AR games in education

Mobile VR games in education

360-degree mobile imagery in education, such as Google Maps and Google StreetView

360-degree mobile video in education, such as YouTube 360

Connecting people to places using AR and VR

The use of contextual sensors in education, such as iBeacons

The use of drones in education; and

Wearable technologies

For further details on each Special Issue, including the list of Guest Editors and author deadlines, visit the AJET website.

ASCILITE Innovation Award: Open for Nominations

The ASCILITE Innovation Award celebrates work undertaken by an individual or team of people in support of the exemplary and research informed use of technologies for teaching and learning in tertiary education. Innovation is defined as a new idea, device or process. It is something original that “breaks into” teaching and learning in the tertiary sector.

Applications for this award are likely to include:

Innovative solutions which promote the exemplary and research informed use of technologies for teaching and learning in tertiary education.

Product development projects which promote the exemplary and research informed use of technologies for teaching and learning in tertiary education.

Large-scale implementation initiatives which promote the innovative, exemplary and research informed use of technologies for teaching and learning in tertiary education.

Major professional development initiatives which promotes the exemplary and research informed use of technologies for teaching and learning in tertiary education.

You can view detailed criteria for the Innovation award here and for application forms go here.

Fellow Award & Life Member Award: Open for Nominations

Nominations are also invited for the ASCILITE Fellow award and Life Member award and details of these awards may be found here.

Nominations for the ASCILITE awards close on 17 October 2016.

2016 Excellence in Learning Analytics Awards Program

The Learning Analytics SIG Awards program is an opportunity for those working with LA to share their practice and be recognised for their achievements in this field, while creating resources for SIG members around effective practices in LA. The Awards focus on the practical application of LA in enhancing learning and teaching, and as such we also hope to create a body of evidence supporting the value of LA.

The Awards are open to projects and/or practices in Australian and New Zealand tertiary education institutions that apply LA to enhance learning and teaching at any scale: from an individual subject/course or across a school, faculty, institution, or the broader tertiary sector.

OTHER NEWS

While significant changes in pedagogy are taking place and influencing student expectations, at the same time there are new technologies emerging that universities need to factor into their assessment and accreditation roadmap.

Ahead of Innovation in Assessment & Credentials 2016, Kim Flintoff, Learning Futures Advisor at Curtin University, shares insight into how Curtin University is addressing new opportunities to assess students and roll out credentials that align with their learning objectives.

Want to know more?

If you’re interested in finding out more about developing fit for purpose qualifications through work integrated learning, skills-based assessment and micro-credentials, then be sure to attend the Innovation in Assessment & Credentials Summit on 20 – 21 October, Australia. Download the agenda here for more information.

To register and save an additional 10% off the price of attending use VIP Code "ascilite-IAC" and call (02) 9229 1000 or book online here.

Interview participants Sought for PhD research Study

Interview participants are sought for a PhD research studey about sustaining the diffusion of elearning innovations in higher education teaching practice.

A PhD candidate in the School of Education at the Flinders University of South Australia is seeking volunteer participants for an interview in which a computer simulation will be used to examine the problem of sustaining the diffusion of proven elearning innovations that originate in university faculties. Participants are sought from university management, support and teaching staff who have been involved in supporting, developing or adopting proven new ways of teaching and learning with digital technologies during the past three years.

The study is the first examination of technology adoption processes in higher education teaching practice to use a computer simulation to model connections between the roles of management, support services and teaching staff from a university system perspective. If you are selected for this study, your interview will last between 60 to 90 minutes and can be conducted either face-to-face or online. Interviews will be held during December 2016 and January/February 2017.

To express an interest in this research and for more details about becoming involved as an interview participant please complete this short confidential survey.

Job Vacancy: Senior Researcher in Digital Learning, Deakin University

Deakin's Centre for Research in Assessment and Digital Learning (CRADLE) is currently advertising an ongoing research role at Level C/D (Senior Research Fellow or Associate Professor). CRADLE was established in 2015 in the portfolio of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education), Professor Beverley Oliver. The centre director is Professor David Boud, and the CRADLE team currently consists of four research academics and a research manager. CRADLE is located in Deakin's Melbourne Corporate Centre in the heart of the Melbourne CBD.

This new role will focus on digital learning, learning analytics and data. We are particularly interested in applicants with experience in quantitative research, and an outstanding track record of grants and publications.

The Centre for the Study of Higher Education at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education has an opening for a Learning Designer or Senior Learning Designer to focus on leading the design, development and adoption of innovative solutions for the University's new suite of online graduate courses, using a range of contemporary technologies in online learning environments. You will use sound instructional principles and methodologies oriented to best practice learning and teaching pedagogies, and will be guided by the University's eLearning Strategy.

Reporting to the Head of Learning Design and Production, you will have an understanding of pedagogy and experience in the application of this knowledge to eLearning resources. Learning Designers within the team are also guided and mentored by Senior Learning Designers.

Further information may be obtained on the website here. The closing date for applications is 11 September 2016.